Homeowners Air Gripes Over Blasting

Miramar — More than 100 homeowners attended a Wednesday night commission meeting with dozens of them venting frustrations over the damage to their homes from nearby blasting.

Their hope: that either the city or fire marshal would hold developers responsible for the damages.

Their reality: Representatives from both parties said that making developers pay for damages was not within their power.

"My son is autistic," said resident Sandra Blocker. "He doesn't understand what is happening when my whole house shakes."

Blocker and others complained of the tremors that rattle their homes each day, the cracks along their walls and in their pools, and the deterioration of an investment that they've poured their life savings into. The blasting is occurring along the Miami-Dade/Broward county line, a result of new-home construction.

Miramar banned blasting in 1999, after an arbitration group reviewed residents' complaints. But the Legislature recently passed a bill that takes blasting control away from local governments and passed a bill that allows for more powerful explosions. The state fire marshal now enforces the law controlling developers, but cannot set the boundaries under which they must operate.

"If you have damage to your property, the state fire marshal does not have the jurisdiction to tell the developer he has to pay the damage," said Bryan Parks, a state fire marshal investigator.

Residents can either file a class-action lawsuit or lobby for the Legislature to change the law, said resident and activist Launa Carbonell.

"It will not be a quick fix," she said. "But we knew that coming in."

Resident Trudy Sidlauskas is certain that the cracks in her $200,000 home were caused by the blasting.

But after listening to comments from officials, she tried a different approach: She asked Gary Shirk, who is running for state representative in her district, to leave the packed commission chamber and listen to her concerns.

"I guarantee that if I get elected, this will be one of my bills," Shirk said.